first days of school...

Every year without fail,I would wake up early to get ready for the first day of school. I would put on my favorite outfit (usually it was something new that I had never worn before-that my mom and I had just bought). I would have my hair down and looking decent for the annual event. I did my makeup or put on jewelry and walked down the steps of my house, to the smell of pancakes in the kitchen. My mom always liked to make the first day of school special for my brother and I. She would have done it every other day too, if we would have woken up on time and she didn't have to go to work. (No one can beat my mom's pancakes.)


So we would eat our breakfast, trying our best not to spill syrup on out clothes, and then we would walk out the door and stop on the end of the stairs to take the typical picture. My childhood neighbor, Tyler and his mom Nan, would usually join us for the photo shoot. Every year we had an individual picture, twin picture, and group picture. These are rather hilarious when you put them in a row. Of course you get the effect with school pictures, but it isn't quite the same. You see, with school pictures you just get the face and shoulders, you can compare but the things that you can't see make the first day of school pictures that much better. 


First day of school pictures open up a whole new world of awkwardness for the student in the picture. You not only get to see their smiles go from crooked, to braces, to straight; you get the entire body shot. You can see the change in the shoes. In my pictures they went from sandals and socks to my favorite chunky black boots, and then to my favorite pair of brown clogs with flowers imprinted in the sides. Oh yes, I was rather stylish. With the shoes come the randomly designed shorts and matching tank tops. What a sight to see. The matching outfit and the awkward not-coordinated stance just make the comparisons between the years a sight to see. 


This year my first day was not just my first day of school but my first day of school-overseas. Something I had never experienced before. It was incredible. My teacher had an accent and he was talking about psychology, which is one of my favorites. Now, I usually go to college in Pella at Central College. My class sizes are usually no bigger than 40 students. I walked into my classroom with a few other Americans, and there were no desks, but chairs with movable writing tables. If I were to guess, I would say that there were about 400 chairs in the room that resembled a big music hall. 

high ceilings in the room...

The ceilings were high and rounded with great detail on the sides. Random paintings of emblems were painted at the highest parts of the ceiling. The professor did not take attendance, and was about 10 minutes late for class. People were eating, and had computers. This is all very different from what I am used to, but it was incredible. We will see how this class continues, but it will be an experience. 

A few of my friends from Central and I took our first day of school picture in front of the building our class was in. I thought that I had moved on from the "awkward stage" once I got through puberty, but apparently you can feel awkward, not the funny awkward, but the awkward awkward even when you get older, yay. The picture was fine, but the hundred University students filtering through the doors staring and laughing at the Americans wasn't so good. 

Rachel, Elizabeth and Myself in front of the building...

I am convinced that their laughter was out of jealousy and nostalgia because they remembered their first day of school pictures, and they wanted to take some too...

first day of school picture :)

the fairytale land...

Caernarfon Castle

When some girls are little, they dream of one day becoming a princess. They want to live in a wonderful castle, with a dreamy prince charming. They are innocent believing that they can do everything. They want to be singers, dancers, and famous actresses. Little children reach for the stars and never seem to grasp the concept of failure.

In my last post I shared a bit about my childhood. As a child, I always wanted to be different things. I am sure I went through a bit of a princess phase but after that it went straight to my dream of becoming an art teacher or a pediatrician, then it turned to a psychiatrist, and now becoming a teacher is my dream. I wrote about how I wanted to travel and go around the world when I was little. That dream hasn’t changed, but the circumstances have changed. Now I have traveled and I am around the world. I have seen castles, and mountains that pictures just cannot capture. I am doing things that I have always dreamed of. 

Ricky, Me, Natalie, and Nolan

Bodelwyddan Church 

I am literally living in my dream…

Wales is in fact where I always wanted to be. My own fairy tale land; complete with mountains, accents, castles, tea, and towering cathedrals. From the window in my kitchen, I can see the different buildings of Ffriddoedd Court. And if there are no clouds in the sky, I can see the different peaks of the Snowdonia Mountains. 

As I sit in my kitchen, I get offered a cup of tea at least once by each one of my flatmates. In fact they have a tea chart in the kitchen. It reads off their names, the amount of milk and the amount of sugars that each of them prefer. I am considered strange, because I enjoy flavored tea with no milk or sugar, but rather with some honey. My flatmates said that they will change me eventually. I don't think that I will ever like tea and milk, but perhaps within the next 5 months they will change me. (More on my flatmates to come in later blogs.)

The group of students that I came with have been lucky enough to have field-trips with a Welsh national, Tecwyn Van Jones. Tecwyn is the program director here in Wales. I have to say that he is the most wonderful narrator for this little fairytale of mine. Equipped with the perfect narrator voice; he has taken us all around Wales to see castles and cathedrals. Just yesterday we traveled on a bus to England to see the Chester Cathedral which was absolutely gorgeous. 

Chester Cathedral...

One of the stained glass windows in the
 Chester Cathedral...

My very own fairytale land with tea and biscuits, castles and cathedrals, and wonderful accents of new friends. 

More to come still...

the big purple adventure...

When I was a little girl I used to get rather excited about everything. My favorite color was purple. I loved Howie from the Backstreet Boys. My favorite food was my mom's potato casserole. I looked forward to picking out a tree with my dad for Christmas. I loved sleeping at my grandma, Gloria's, house, she always let me wear her button-up shirt covered with shoes. I enjoyed drawing, painting, and creating anything that came to my head. I looked up to my older brother and my best friend was my twin brother, whom I shared a room with from diaper stage to the "I'm too old and oh so mature" stage at age 6. 


Over the years some of these things have changed and some have remained the same. One thing that never changed was my sense of adventure. In my cute five year old, lisping, gap-toothed, grin I would call these various adventures, my big purple adventures. 


When we would go see my aunt Susie in a two hour drive, that would be a big purple adventure. When we went to DisneyLand, that was another. Heck, even when we had to go to the grocery store or to Wal-Mart, even those would be big purple adventures to me. 


About three days ago, I set out on my latest big purple adventure. I road in a few planes for a little over 9 hours. I sat in an airport for over 11 hours. I road on a bus for 2 hours through winding streets and countrysides with castles and loads of sheep grazing. I had finally arrived in Bangor, Wales- my home for the next 5 months. 

Some of the guys on our walk for lunch.
The beautiful hilly countryside in the background.

It is day three of my big purple adventure, and it seems like I have been here for so long. I love it here in Bangor, it is quite possibly the most beautiful place I have ever seen. The people here are better than most. They are friendly, inclusive, and let me tell you that they know how to have a good time ;) My 7 flatmates have taken me in like a sister. They have shared their kitchen things, their stories, and their sweet accents. 

A view from the pier, that is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean,
and yeah those are large hills in the background,
 and sailboats in the water.

It is rather hard trying to describe all of the new things that I have seen and tasted. The first night we were here, we went out to a pub (which is typical for the Welsh people). I had a really great pear cider. It was fantastic. 

Rachel, Elizabeth, and Me at the Fat Cat Club

Yesterday, we went out and bought groceries at the supermarket, and I started the transition of getting used to their types of foods. The food is rather similar, there are just different brands and a few new things that they really enjoy. We went out to another pub for lunch called Yates. A few friends and I decided that we would try and experience the new food. So we got the famous "bangers and mash." Example below...

Bangers and Mash

 It was the most delicious sausage and potatoes that I have ever had. Mmm. 


There will be plenty of stories of my other big purple adventures to come...